The ceiling light in Blossom’s living room sparked into life as she flipped the switch while I settled down inside the book fort that remained from the previous night. My eyes burned and my chest hurt, but I wasn’t crying anymore. I couldn’t. I’d been crying for several hours before Blossom decided we should come back here, where I’d be less likely to think about what had happened. But how could I not think about it? The whole line of memory kept repeating itself in my head over, and over, and over. I hiccuped and buried my face in my hooves. Why can’t I just die too? It’d be so much better than this.

Because you made the pact. You chose life and my power, so now you must live as host for my soul and I.

“WHY!?” I shouted making Blossom jump from where she was in the kitchen.

“Dee Dee? What’s wr... Who are you talking to?” She rushed over to me as quickly as she could, squeezing into the book fort to lay next to me. “Is it that voice again?” I nodded weakly, trying to block out the intruder in my mind while moving as close to her as I could. “Do you know what it is?” Another silent ‘yes’ and she looked warily at my forehead. “Does it have anything to do with your... eye and cutie mark?”

I choked out a tearless sob and nodded again before turning to look at my flank for the twenty-ninth time since Blossom had told me about it. It was a neon green, four-pointed star surrounded by four small green dots. In the center of the star sat another black mimic, its points touching the green star’s apexes. Blossom had told me it looked exactly like the iris in the vertical eye that had replaced my horn. “She... She keeps telling me... that I need to honor our deal. Blossom... Please kill me... Plea-.”

Blossom grabbed my head forcefully and pulled it right in front of her face, staring into my eyes. “Don’t! Don’t say that!” Her eyes watered as she held me firm in her grasp despite my struggles to be free. “I... I couldn’t go on if you left me... Please, I don’t want you to ever say that.” I couldn’t keep staring into her tear-filled eyes. My words had obviously hurt her deeply, but I still couldn’t keep the thoughts from my head.

I nodded as much as I could, my eyes turned towards the carpet, and she pulled me into a tight embrace, sobbing loudly above my head. “I’m so sorry about what happened, Dazzle... I’m so sorry that this happened to you.”

I buried my face in her chest, holding her as tightly as I could. My only hope for survival now that I had lost everything else. My only hope for any kind of happiness in the future. I took a deep breath of her coat, the lingering smell of this morning’s bath still clinging to her, but as I went to exhale, I choked out a hiccup as a result of my welled depression.

“Dee Dee. Maybe we should leave Canterlot. We... We could go somewhere else. I’m sure the guards will come looking for us eventually when they find out what happened. It’ll also help to keep your mind off of things... Maybe even get rid of the voice.” She kissed my forehead softly as I heaved tearless sobs into her chest.

I didn’t want to leave. I’ve always lived here and I’m afraid. Afraid that, if we left, everything that had happened today would be real. I knew that what had happened couldn’t be fixed, but deep down, I wished for it to just go away and for everything to go back to before. “I... If we leave... What will we do?”

“I don’t know, Dazzle, but it’s best if we go someplace else. I’ll sell my house to the Canterlot Realtor and we can take a train to Trottingham... I’ll save up a couple weeks’ pay from my job as well, just in case.” She pulled away from me and smiled softly, reassuringly, and I felt some of my sadness fall away until the scenes flashed through my head once more. I nodded, wiping my face against her and wept dryly. “Shhh... Why don’t you go to sleep, Dee Dee? You need to rest.”

Her words were soft, but they still did little to calm me. “I don’t want to sleep. I don’t wanna be alone,” I clung to her desperately as she smiled and stroked my mane.

“I’ll stay with you all night. Now, come on. Let me get you tucked in.” She lifted me into her hooves and carried me like a foal as she flew us into her room, not once taking her eyes off of me as she laid me down on her bed and pulled the covers up to my neck.

“Could you lay with me, too? Please?” I was surprised at how weak my voice sounded, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t imagine being strong right now. Not anymore...

“Of course. I did promise you I’d stay, didn’t I?” I nodded slowly as she climbed up onto the bed next to me and pulled me to her chest letting me rest my head on her foreleg. “Good night, my little dandelion. I love you.”

I flinched at those words. After today, I thought I’d never want to hear that nickname again. I was scared that it would haunt me or break my heart. But it didn’t. Hearing Blossom call me her dandelion made me so happy for reasons I can’t explain. I buried my face in her chest as she kissed me gently on my forehead making it tingle at the site. I closed my eyes and choked out my response before quickly drifting off to sleep. “I love you too...”

My dreams were all filled with detailed images of my parents’ deaths and then seeing them come back to life to kill the guards. Nightmares of the worst kind a filly could have and, after every time the guards were dropped to the ground, they would come after me. I woke every time it happened, just before they reached me with their blood-soaked bodies. Eight times I woke screaming and crying only to be comforted by Blossom until I fell back into dreamland. I woke up again, bawling into Blossom’s chest once more only to see her crying too.

I felt terrible. I couldn’t believe that she was crying too. Why is she crying? “Blossom? Why... Why are you crying?”

“D-Dazzle... Seeing you like this... I just...” She broke down and clutched me tightly. I could feel her tears from where they fell from her face as she nuzzled mine.

I couldn’t bear to see her like this. I nuzzled back as best as I could whispering quickly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I won’t cry anymore, Blossom. I-I’ll stop. Please don’t cry.”

“No! No, Dazzle. You need to cry. It’s okay to cry... You don’t have to pretend it doesn’t hurt, because I know it does. I know it hurts terribly. It hurts so much to lose somepony you love and just bottling it up won’t do anything to help.” She pulled away from me and pressed her nose to mine, smiling with tear-filled eyes. I didn’t know why she was smiling. It didn’t make any sense at all. One moment she was sad like me and then, smiles? She could obviously see my confusion. “I’m here for you, Dee Dee. I’m smiling because I know that I’ll always be there whenever you need me. I love you more than you can believe and I’ll never let you suffer alone.”

My eyes burned so much so I shut them as tightly as I could, forcing the tears to go away. I wanted to believe her. I really did, but Mommy and Daddy. They were supposed to stay with me forever too and now... Now they’re... “I... Do you promise? Will you? Always and forever?”

“Of course, Dee Dee. I would never-.”

“Promise me... Please promise. I don’t want to... I don’t want to be alone... Ever.” I could feel my eyes wavering, trying my best to stay focused on the pink pair right past my muzzle. She blinked away tears and kissed me softly.

“I swear by my love for you, Dazzle, that I’ll never, ever think of leaving you.”

I blushed lightly, and buried my face into her coat once more. “I promise too.” I could hear her heartbeat pounding away in her chest and was soothed back into a light snooze and woke up only when her alarm finally hit nine o’clock. It buzzed loudly to make sure we couldn’t just go back to sleep and I whined angrily. “Dumb clock... Why do you even have that? It’s not like-.”

“OH NO I HAVE TO GO TO WORK!” She jumped straight out bed and rushed into the bathroom to brush her teeth. I could still hear her ‘ohno’ing as the water from her sink ran. “Dazzle? Do you want anything to eat before I go? If not, then I have some Flankenberry cereal under the counter!”

“Do you have to go?” I climbed off the mattress and plopped down onto the floor then rushed out into the living room to see her squeezing into her maid uniform. She slipped the simple black and white outfit on and leaned down to kiss me on the nose.

“Of course I have to go, Dee Dee. I don’t want Miss Red to worry about me and we’ll need the extra money if we want to eat while I look for a job after we leave.” I just stared at her, hoping that she wouldn’t leave even though I knew she was right. Even a kid-, I mean big girl, like me knew that we’d need money, I still didn’t want her to go. “I won’t be too long. I’ll make sure to tell Miss Red that I can’t work as much as I used to. She’ll understand. Oh, and if you need anything at all, just come to her mansion. You know she'd hate to leave you alone if you don’t want to be.” She brushed my bed mane out of my face, smiling brightly, and made her way outside before shutting and locking the front door behind her.

I fell to my haunches and watched the door, wishing she would come bursting back through in a rush of feathers and squeeze me against herself, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Even if I wish with allllllllll of my might, it wouldn’t change anything. I could have gone with her right then, but I didn't want to make her feel bad for leaving me.

You could always make her into one of your drones. You’re powers are not limited to raising the dead.

“What do you mean, ‘drones’? What’s a drone?” I blinked. “Why didn’t you talk until now?”

I merely did not wish to speak, pony child. As for your first inquiry, a drone is but a mindless slave that will bend to your every whim. All it costs... is their soul and personality.

“What!? No! I don’t wanna make Blossom dumb! I like her just the way she is, missy!” I sighed, disheartened. “Even if she isn’t here right now...” After sighing for a final time, I stood up and started to destroy the book fort we had made yesterday so I could put the building blocks of our ‘castle’ back where they were supposed to go. “Maybe she’ll be happier if I put everything away for her. “ I gave one swift kick after another, popping the books out of place until, with one final buck, the remaining wall fell on top of me. “Owwie... I miss my horn. Hey, funny voice lady! Why’d you take my horn? I don’t like having this eye on my forehead. It makes me look weird. And I liked having my magic to pick stuff up.”

You agreed to relinquish your unicorn magic in return for a greater power to protect yourself and return your parents from death. I took your horn and replaced it with the basilisk’s eye. My body may have been dying, but it would have been unfair to give without taking for myself. I took your horn and used its residual magical qualities to imprint myself and my soul into you.

“Uhh... So you took my magic as a trade? Well, that’s not fair! I don’t even know how to use the stuff you gave me! How is that fair at all?!” I pouted, sticking out my lower lip and falling to my haunches. My tail swished angrily, but I wasn’t truly upset. I just wanted to hear what she’d say next.

I... can see where you are coming from, child. I shall teach you of your newly acquired powers as you continue to grow, but for now, I will tell you how to replenish yourself.

“What do you mean? Replenish?” I frowned. “Making stuff up isn’t very nice.”

To recover. Regain. Heal. If you wish to use your Necromantic Magic, then you must learn how to restore it.

“Why not sleep? When I got tired from using my horn, Mommy always told me to take a nap.” I returned to the books and continued to reshelve them. “I mean, isn’t that obvious?”

Our magic is nothing like that of you ponies. Your magic draws on the residual power that fills the planet and taxes your bodies according to the strength of the spell and time spent casting it. A basilisk’s magic is focused entirely upon the user’s soul and physical fortitude. Basilisks have vast and powerful souls which take the role of an entirely different being thus allowing us to cast our magic without taxing our own bodies. A pony’s soul is linked to their physical form and thus, when a pony uses our magic, they’ll be calling on their own life force to cast their spells.

“I dunno what most of that means, but I think I know some of what you said. You mean I won’t get my magic back if I run out?”

Not quite, pony child. When you pour your soul into a spell, it drains it until it no longer has the ability to continue. When that happens, the soul begins to sap your physical reserves of energy to nourish itself back to normal. Should you not have the strength to feed your soul, it will fail and disperse, leaving you as lifeless as the shells you reanimate.

“If I use this magic I’ll die!? That doesn’t sound like a fair trade at all! You better give me back my horn and get outta my head! I want my old magic back!” I was quite upset. Why couldn’t she have said this before I said yes? Dumb meanie Morla.

That is impossible, child. My soul and mind fully merged with your own the moment you accepted my eye. I cannot remove myself from your body without destroying both you and myself in the process.

“What!? That’s...! I hate you! I hate you so much! This is all your fault! You and Nightmare Moon! You two killed my mommy and daddy! You... You ruined my life...”

I did nothing to your parents. It was the guards that took the lives of your parents. I tried to assist you in saving them, but you ignored my warnings. Do not worry, though. You will be able to cast my magic without causing permanent harm to yourself. The eye upon your head serves as a conduit for the Necromancy and is capable of feeding your soul from the souls of others. As long as you keep the eye’s gaze upon another creature, it will sap their soul’s energy and absorb it into your own.

I sniffled and wiped away the tears that had started to carve a line down my fur. “But, won’t that kill them? I don’t wanna kill anypony.”

You have already ended the lives of two guards. I flinched, remembering the pair being devoured and ravaged by my parents. And the eye drains slowly. Fast enough to replenish your spirit from near nothingness in an hour of alternating draining, but slow enough to cause only mild fatigue as the victim’s soul replenishes itself. It can be used as a weapon, however, should you draw for extended periods of time.

“But I don’t even know how to make this stupid thing do what I want! How am I going to fix myself if I can’t get it to open!?” I stopped fixing the shelf and sat looking at the books I wouldn’t be able to shelve.

I shall assist you with your magic until the time comes that you are capable of using it yourself. It would be dangerous to allow you to drain yourself knowing that, should you die, I die as well. Know that your body will instinctively begin casting the magic should you face true danger or if your emotions run astray. It is of high importance to gain control of the basilisk’s eye as soon as possible. Now, find a reflective surface so that I may have you observe the opening of the eye and instruct you on how to begin manipulating it.

“Okay, I guess.” I walked into the bathroom and climbed up onto sink so I could see myself in Blossom’s mirror. I took a moment to finally look at myself since Morla took my horn. I was quite surprised. I expected to see some ugly cut on my forehead, but I couldn’t even see the difference! Well... I could see that my horn was gone, but there wasn’t anything else there. No horn, no cut, no scar. Only smooth fur right under my mane. “Where is the hole? Isn’t there supposed to be a-.”

I screamed and fell off the sink, smashing my head on the floor as I tried to get away from the mirror. “Wh- What’s that! There... There was something behind me!” I frantically searched the room, but couldn’t see anything so I carefully moved out into the living room again on the verge of tears. “M-Morla... What was that? Why aren’t you answering me?” I crept as slowly as I could towards the hoof mirror Blossom kept on her bookshelf, looking around me for what I had seen in the bathroom, and held it in front of my face.

I stared at the vertical eye in the middle of my forehead as it glowed green. “Well... I didn’t see what happened, so how did I learn anything?” I sighed in frustration and pulled the mirror away from my nose only to drop it on the floor, cracking the glass. I was too scared to do anything but shake and cry as I backed away from my broken reflection. I didn’t want to look behind me even as I backed myself towards the shadow in the hoof mirror. “M-morla? Are... Are you there? Please answer me...”

I didn’t know what to do. Morla was ignoring me and Blossom was... “Blossom... Why aren’t you here?” I started bawling again, shivering while I waited for something to answer me; make the scary shadow go away. My thoughts were racing through things I could do while my body was refusing to move any direction other than towards the wall until I remembered something I never should have forgotten. I felt like such a foal, but I remembered that I knew where Miss Red lived.

"She said... Blossom said to go to Miss Red's... if I needed anything..." I shot to my hooves and rushed to the door, unlocking it as quickly as I could with my shaky hooves, and burst out onto Blossom's front lawn. I stopped only to kick the door shut before taking off down the street, sobbing loudly as I escaped from the shadow in Blossom’s house. I saw several ponies on the streets as I galloped past them and all of them stared at me in shock. I didn’t know if it was because I was crying or because of the eye, but I didn’t care. All I had a mind for was making it to the hug I knew Blossom would have waiting for me. All I wanted was for her to make the monster go away and tell me that everything would be okay.

The houses I passed quickly grew in size as I started climbing from the base of the mountain towards the richer part of Lower Canterlot. Fences ran along the stone walkways and bright flower gardens replaced the smaller vegetable patches of the lower quarter. My hooves clopped loudly against the stone during my dash through the upper crust district while my eyes flicked back and forth, seeking out clues as to whether the shadow had followed me. I could see Ruby Red’s mansion just past the next hill and so I pushed myself harder, panting through my choked sobs as tears streamed down my face. I heard many cries of outrage from the rich ponies, but I ignored them, not caring for anything but to feel Blossom squeeze me as tightly as I wanted.

I jumped over the small gate, grazing my thigh on one of the sharp points, and landed on the other side to limp speedily towards the door. I stopped only for a moment to take a deep breath before I started pounding feverishly on the maple frame. “BLOSSOM! BLOSSOM, PLEASE LET ME IN! PLEASE! BEFORE IT GETS ME!!” I fell to my haunches in front of the door wailing loudly and soon heard heavy hooffall from the other side of the door.

The door was pulled open forcefully and Blossom stood on the other side, panting heavily. “Dee Dee! What’s-?!” I tackled her and bawled into her chest as she held me closely and ‘shh’d softly while rubbing my back. “What’s wrong Dazzle? What happened? What’s going to get you?”

I hiccuped loudly and tried to breathe normally, but I was too scared and upset. I only succeeded in blubbering nonsense and staining her outfit with my tears. Another pony walked towards us as I started to calm down enough to talk somewhat clearly. “I... I was talking with... With Morla and... she was gonna teach me how to... How to use my magic, but... there was this scary shadow... with red eyes and Morla wouldn’t talk to me and IWASSOSCARED!!”

“Oh, Dazzle, I’m so sorry. I should have taken you with me to begin with. I knew I would regret leaving you alone, but I didn’t expect something like this to happen...” She looked away from me to the older two-tone red mare. “Miss Red, would you mind if I brought Dazzle to work with me every day till I have to leave? She... She’s been going through some tough times and I don’t want to leave her at home by herself after this.”

“Of course she can come with you, dearie. You know how much I enjoy the Drives’ child.” She moved up next to me and softly patted my head. “Are you going to be... My goodness, Dazzle! Whatever happened to your horn?”

I looked down to Blossom, noticing the flicking of her eyes that shows whenever she’s nervous and felt fear welling up inside me again. What would happen if she finds out I made my parents kill those guards? Would she tell somepony? I don’t want to be taken away! As my emotions spun, I felt that familiar writhing on my forehead and quickly buried my face into Blossom’s blouse, wincing as I felt the fabric dig into the third eye.

I was too slow, however, as Ruby gasped softly and backed away. “My sweet Celestia, child... What...? What was that? Was that an... eye?”

I thought you said you were going to work the eye for me! Dumb Morla!

I tried moving my mouth, but no sound would come out. I was too frightened to do anything but cry as usual. Maybe I’m not such a big pony... “Miss Red... Could you please not tell anypony about this? If Dazzle agrees, I’ll tell you what happened, but you absolutely cannot talk to anypony about her... condition. We’re not entirely sure ourselves, but we know that if the guards were to find out, they’ll come looking for her just like-.” I squeezed her next tightly and shook my head, telling her that I didn’t want to talk about it. Why would I want to keep talking about what I saw when I went to sleep? “Well, I’ll tell you what it is, but we know the guards will look for her if they knew.”

I wiped my face off with a hoof, smiling weakly at Blossom, and watched Ruby closely. I know Morla would do something if she tried anything to hurt me, but I didn’t know what and I didn’t want to know, so I just prayed to Celestia that she would keep it a secret. Several seconds later, she lost her frown and smiled softly once more. “Of course I’ll keep it a secret, Blossom. You know how much I enjoy Dazzle coming over and if the guards want to take such a sweet young filly away, well, they’d have to get through me first!”

I held onto Blossom and grinned shyly. Rose always seemed to be able to embarrass me, but I loved how nice she was. I don’t even know why I thought she would do anything other than agree. “Can... Can I stay here... and come with Blossom when she works? Every day? Are you sure? Cause... I don’t wanna stay there alone anymore...”

“Of course you can, Dazzle. I’m a mare of my word and I’ll hold to what I’ve said. Now, why don’t you come and help Blossom set up the table? The chefs were just getting ready to serve lunch when you knocked. We’ll talk about what happened while we dine if that’s alright with you?”

Ruby walked into the dining room while Blossom took my hoof and led me to the kitchen. I was always amazed at how good the kitchen smelled whenever the chefs were preparing food. It was like heaven in my nose and I wondered why Blossom never cooked anything like this. She could definitely do it if she tried. Her cooking was always awesome even if she only made pancakes and hay burgers. I wonder if she knew how to make anything else or if they were just her favorite foods.

Blossom started stacking plates and fancy silverware onto a wheeled cart covered with a cream cloth. I had to stand on my back hooves to see exactly what she was putting up there since its top was just tall enough to escape my sight. "Hey, Blossom..."

"Yes, Dazzle?" She looked down at me as I fell back onto all four hooves and stared at the ground. “Is something wrong? If you need to, I can ask Miss Red if I can have the rest of the day off so we can go back home.”

“No! I mean... No... I don’t wanna go back there right now. It might still be there...” I looked up at her and stared into her bright pink eyes. There was a question bugging me at the back of my head that had been screaming at me to be asked since last night, but I was too afraid of the answer. I’m still afraid, but I need to know. I just hope that Blossom won’t get angry. “I just... Aren’t you scared of me? I...” I was on the verge of crying again; something that was happening way too much in the past few hours, but I couldn’t stop now. “I did something so bad! I have some scary thing trying to get me... I even have a second thing inside my head! I can make dead ponies come back to life! Why... Why aren’t you running away? Everypony else I know would run...”

I watched her reaction closely with a slight rise from my head and was equally stunned and relieved that she smiled through her light tears as she nuzzled against me. “Oh, Dazzle... I’m absolutely terrified, but not of you. Never of you... I’m scared that you’ll change, that you’ll stop being my adorable, loving dandelion and give in to your emotions. I know that what happened is horribly traumatizing and I know you’re bottling up your anxiety and depression so you don’t worry me, but it only makes it worse... I hate having to see you put up a front for me. I just want you to be happy. It’ll be hard after what’s happened, but I’ll do whatever it takes to bring your beautiful smile back.”

I knew she would say that she’d stay with me and that she wouldn’t be afraid of me, but to hear her actually say it? Like that? My heart was definitely not trying to explode out of my chest. And we were definitely not being watched by everypony in the kitchen. I didn’t care though. I could only see Blossom through the stinging liquid burning my eyes and she was all I cared to see right now. “Bl-Blossom... I... I love you so much... I...”

She held me close and we both cried against each other unaware of what was happening around us until one of the chefs, an old earth pony, tapped her on the back. “Umm, Miss Orange? You’re uhh... making it difficult to work. I know this is kind of... important, but...”

We blushed deep red and quickly stood, wiping our faces with our hooves. You’d have thought we practiced this with how quickly and perfectly in unison we fixed our faces. “I’m sorry, Silver Platter! I, uhh... I’ll make sure we’re out of the way in just a moment! Just... Please don’t tell anypony what you heard. This has to stay a secret, okay?”

The elderly stallion just chuckled and patted us on the head. “It’s fine, Miss Orange. You just had us worried is all. Do you know how difficult it is to keep on task with a pair of fillies crying in the same room?” He shook his head and chuckled again. “I hope you girls don’t have any more trouble. You’re sweet fillies and it’s a shame that you’re suffering like this.”

“Yes, Mister Platter!” I nodded and hopped to my hooves, eager to leave before I could darken anymore. “Let’s go, Blossom! Miss Ruby is waiting!” I nudged her towards the cart and stood behind her and out of sight of the rest of the ponies. “Hurry. Please!” She giggled and placed her front hooves and the cart to begin pushing it out the door.

“Dazzle... Come on. Let’s go set the table.” I followed her through the hallways and past the several doors that lined them. This isn’t the biggest house in the upper district, but it is still pretty large compared to mine. It is a mansion, after all.

I clung closely to Blossom while we walked without making any noise and started thinking about what we were going to be doing in the next few weeks. Obviously, we’re going to be leaving Canterlot and going to Trottingham. Why Trottingham? Does she know anypony there? I don’t remember her talking about anything there before. Does she have family there? I blinked and spun my head to stare at Blossom as she pushed the silent cart and bobbed her head. I don’t think she’s ever talked about any of her family other than her mom.

I raised my hoof to poke her side and get her attention, but she turned to a door on our left and knocked lightly then paused. After a few seconds, Ruby opened the door and smiled widely. “Ah, there you are! I was starting to think you two got lost!” She stepped out of the way and Blossom pushed the cart in past her shaking her head.

“I’ve been working here for four years, Miss Ruby. I hardly think I’d get lost anymore.”

“Oh, but dearie, I’ve lived here far longer than you’ve worked and I still can’t seem to find my way to the bathroom at night. It’s quite amazing what you can forget when your mind isn’t focused!” She grinned devilishly and I couldn’t help but to laugh right along with Blossom. “Ah, much better! I can’t have such lovely fillies being depressed in my home now, can I? Come, come. I’ll help you set out the dining ware and we’ll begin dining as soon as the chefs have finished.”

“But, Miss Red! It’s my job to place the dishes and silverware. You should just relax while I get everything ready.” She tried to stand in between Ruby and the trolley, but the older mare gently brushed her out of the way.

“Nonsense, dearie. You and Dazzle have too much on your minds right now and it’d be improper for a lady to allow such young ponies as you to work so diligently under such conditions!” She stacked three plates on her back and trotted carefully over to the table without making them tip over much. “Come on, Blossom. Staring like that is most unbecoming of such a beautiful young mare such as yourself.”

I giggled softly and propped myself up onto the cart again as Blossom started grabbing bundles of silverware. I watched her glide over the table and drop each bundle exactly where they were supposed to, go making me grow eager to help. I stared at the remaining dishes, a pair of plates, and concentrated on my horn as much as I-. My forehead twitched and the eye shot open again. I hadn’t realized it’d closed until just then and I wouldn’t have been very worried about it since Ruby had already seen it, but it started to glow its bright green color.

The lights flickered as the light sprayed from my head like a fountain and started to spin. I began to panic and tried to shake my head to make the magic stop, but my body was mostly paralyzed. I could still move my eyes to see the horror on Ruby’s face along with the obvious worry on Blossom’s. I didn’t know what was happening and I certainly didn’t want it to. “No. No. No! No!! Nononononononono!!!”

The lights flashed faster and several cracking noises sounded from the hallway followed by screams. Oh Celestia! Why was this happening?! Why now? The light grew brighter until a small beam shot from the center and bounced off the ceiling to disappear through the floor. Another came after and one more followed that until the same cracking I heard outside the door came from the spot they had hit. The floor bulged upwards like something was trying to climb out of it and I forced my eyes shut as hard as I could. I didn’t want to see what was happening. I heard Ruby muttering words I couldn’t understand nearby and shook, thinking that she’ll never let me come back here again.

She’ll report me to the guards. They’ll kill Blossom and me just like they did my parents. I couldn’t take the strain on my eyes anymore. Forcing them closed was making them burn and so I let them open. I could feel the burning glow seeping from my head even if I couldn’t see it with my third eye and I stopped trying to fight it. I couldn’t let her tell anyone about me or what happened.

The floor broke apart sending splinters everywhere and out climbed a yellowed skeleton of a pony, its bones held together by my magic. I looked at Ruby, my purple eyes glowing as well, and the dead pony crawled towards her on destroyed legs. I expected it to end soon. Ruby would disappear like those two guards- all of the guards that served Nightmare Moon and I would be able to live with Blossom forever. It did end very soon, but not how I had planned.

Blossom jumped out in front of the shambling horror and bucked it in the head, sending its skull to crash into the wall on the other side of the room. She then turned to me and tackled me to the ground, crying on my face. “Dazzle! DAZZLE! Stop this! Stop! I don’t know what’s wrong, but you have to stop! This isn’t you! It’s... It’s not who you are!”

My eye continued to glow and my thoughts were becoming darker and harder to break free of. It felt like something was blocking my movements inside my head and trying to trap me there while it did what it wanted to. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the skeleton coming back together to turn towards Blossom, the green light behind its eyes glaring hatefully.

No... I couldn’t tell Blossom to get away. I couldn’t make the dead pony go away. I couldn’t get the fuzziness in my head to fade away. Everything was not going how I wanted it to. I never wanted the skeleton to attack anypony. I never wanted my parents to die. All I wanted was Blossom to love me and to live happily forever and ever like those princess and knight stories Blossom would read to me. It wouldn’t happen now, though. It was going to all end here as soon as the horror killed Blossom. I wouldn’t be able to continue after she died and-

Everything stopped. My eyes were as wide as they could open as everything around me came to a sudden stop. Blossom was standing above me, just like before, but now she was kissing me. Not on my forehead or my cheek like usual, but on the lips. I didn’t know what was going on anymore and my brain just gave up trying to find out. All I could think about was how warm her lips were and how happy I was. She was always reading stories with kissing scenes in them as a signal of the two ponies’ love. But now... Now I was being kissed like that. It was everything I could have asked for. I slowly let my eyes close and started relaxing, finally, letting my whole body devote itself to Blossom’s soft mouth. I’d seen several plays with my parents and knew that I was supposed to be doing something else, what, I couldn’t remember, but as soon as my brain had room to think about it, I felt my third eye seal and heard the skeleton pony fall to pieces right next to us.

Blossom pulled away and I tried to follow her so she couldn’t stop, but she was quickly out of reach, staring at me with her tear-streaked face. “Dazzle... I... I almost lost you there..., didn’t I?” The entirely too large burst of joy I had felt seconds ago vanished as I turned my face away in shame before twitching my head in the smallest ‘yes’ I could. I felt so horrible for almost letting that happen. She put a hoof to my face making me twitch slightly at the touch and turned my head so she could look me in the eyes. “I told you, Dazzle... I’ll do anything for you just to keep you as my wonderful Dazzle Drive. I love you more than anything. What happened?”

I bit my lip and tried to look at the floor again, but her hoof kept me staring into her... beautiful pink eyes. “I don’t... I don’t know. I tried to use my magic to lift the plates..., but I forgot that my horn... After that, everything became fuzzy. I can’t even remember what I was thinking anymore...”

“Well, that was certainly terrifying, Dazzle, if anything.” I looked over to Ruby as she walked closer, shaking very obviously. My head dropped in shame again. “Do not worry, dear. As long as you are telling the truth and you did not mean to do that, then I’ll forgive you. I must say that this explains quite a bit, however. That is quite obviously taboo magic, so I can see why you’d be avoiding the guards. Celestia forbids casting any magic on the dead aside from preservation and investigative spells. I don’t know what our new Queen’s opinion is on the matter, but it is most assuredly important to keep hushed up.” Her kind smile came back as she looked at the two of us now leaning against each other. “Come, let us eat. I think I’ll let the two of you go back home after lunch. I’ll certainly require a rest after such an event and I cannot even imagine the strain casting that spell could have placed on you.”

I lay on Blossom’s couch, my head on her shoulder, as I forced myself to keep my eyes open. I could feel the drain that the spell had caused and could barely even move. Blossom had to carry me all the way back here after I passed out at the table. I couldn’t help but to giggle at that thought though. She had told me my face was covered with the mashed potatoes the chefs had made. “Blossom... Why are we going to Trottingham? Is there somepony you know?”

“I...” I could see the pain in her eyes as she looked at me and stroked my bobcut mane. “I don’t really have a reason, I guess. My family used to live there before we came to Canterlot, but... Other than that, it just seems like the best place to stay away from the guards. It’s a very large city compared to Winterhold and Canterlot and the weather there is very nice year round.”

I could tell she wasn’t telling me everything. I’ve known her for years and saw her almost every day, but I didn’t want to make her sad. “It’s okay... You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’ll go with you wherever you want to.”

“What do you want to do, Dazzle? I never thought to ask you if you wanted to go anywhere or anything. It seems so unfair to expect you to go with whatever I say.” She grinned and kissed me softly. “So, what do you want to do?”

I couldn’t say anything back. Her sudden kiss had blocked any idea I had before then and I soon felt myself falling back into the darkness of sleep. I didn’t want to give in, but her warm body and gentle touch were lulling me into the coming rest. After what seemed like hours, I was finally able to talk again as I closed my eyes and snuggled up close to her. “I just... want you... forever...” The last thing I knew before I was taken by slumber was the sweet taste of cranberry juice as she kissed me one more time.

The next few weeks passed by rather quickly for the two of us and I loved almost every second of every day. I was able to spend more time with Blossom than I ever had before and, after a few days, I had been able to push away all thoughts of our problems. Every day I went with her to work at Ruby’s mansion and, every day, we would spend our time cleaning and helping her with whatever needed to be done. I was most excited when Ruby gave me my own little maid outfit so Blossom and I could match.

Morla didn’t talk to me at all except for the first day after I called that skeleton pony. She had told me that I needed to ‘refresh’ myself and, since I was feeling extremely tired even after my fifteen hour nap, I let her help me drain the ponies that passed the window to our home. It felt weird watching the ponies all lose the smallest bit of energy and slow their pace while I started feeling better. I didn’t like it at all. It felt so wrong to suck a pony’s soul even in the tiny amounts I got from each one.

The day finally drew near and, as Blossom and I were getting ready to leave for the train, somepony knocked on the door making us both jump. “That’s strange. Miss Red wasn’t supposed to be here for another couple hours. Keep packing whatever you need, Dee Dee. I’ll go see who it is.” I nodded and hummed quietly to myself as she moved out of the bedroom and out of sight.

We don’t really have too much that we would want to bring with us aside from the essentials. We were both going to keep the maid outfits that Ruby had given us and a few of the dresses that my parents had given me were coming too. Maybe she’d want to take her- My ear perked up as I heard Blossom start talking to somepony. My curiosity got the better of me, as usual, and I soon found myself peering around the corner of the kitchen area and towards the open front door.

Blossom was standing just inside the opening talking to a large gray stallion with a dark blue uniform and shiny gold badge. “Uh, yes. She’s here, but we’re getting ready to leave soon. We really don’t have much time before my friend comes to pick us up.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem ma’am. I just want to talk to her and her guardian for a moment. Could you tell me where they are?” I could tell from the way he talked that he wasn’t originally from Canterlot. We all talked pretty slowly, a sign that we live around the nobles, while he was speaking almost too fast for me to keep up!

“Oh, I’m her guardian. Her parents would often have me foalsit her and instructed me to take care of her should some issue arise.”

“You’re kinda young to be taking care of a filly aren’t you? Why isn’t there another adult here, Miss Orange? Where are your parents?”

“I left home a few years ago and have been living here ever since. I’m more than qualified to take care of Dazzle myself.” She looked back towards where I was listening and I quickly pulled my head out of view, but not fast enough.

“Ah, there she is!” He made to move towards me just as I poked my head around the corner once again, but Blossom stepped in his way. “May I come in and ask a few questions? It’ll be quick and then I’ll be out of your way as long as a there isn’t a problem.”

I wasn’t sure I liked this pony, but I remembered what mom told me a few months ago after we watched somepony getting cuffed and carried off in a police carriage. Now, Dazzle. I want you to always do what an officer of the law tells you to do unless it makes you uncomfortable in any way. They are good ponies and do good things for us by keeping the bad guys locked away and you can get in big trouble if you don’t do as instructed. Okay?

I nodded to Blossom and she stepped out of the way to let him pass. “Okay, since Dazzle said she was fine with it, but we only have a few minutes to spare. Please make this quick?”

“Not a problem little lady. Now, miss Drive, miss Orange, let’s sit in the living room while we talk. It’ll be much more comfortable that way.” I followed Blossom as she led the stallion and I into the recently cleaned living room and sat on the couch next to her while he remained standing with a notepad and pen levitating beside his face. “I assume you know why I’m here, miss Orange? I’ll explain anyways. Two-and-a-half weeks ago, we received a report about the deaths of four ponies. Two were Royal Guards and the other two were the parents of Dazzle Drive. When we arrived on the scene, Dazzle was nowhere to be found and it was obvious that there had been a struggle between the four.

“While these times have been very off lately, murdering a pony, let alone a pair of Royal Guards, is a serious crime. From what we gathered at the scene, there weren’t any witnesses to the act itself and, quite surprisingly, any mention of anyone that could shed light onto what happened. The bodies were discovered by a coworker who was checking on them after they had been missing from work five days in a row.”

I was on the verge of tears once more, and I turned to hide my face in Blossom’s shoulder. I heard her gasp loudly and the first thing that I could think of was: Why? “They’re... Oh... no...” I couldn’t understand why she was so surprised that they were dead. We were both there when it happened! Why would she-? “Why didn’t you tell us!? We’ve been... We’ve been wondering what happened for two weeks!! They didn’t come pick her up when they were supposed to and we just thought that they wanted some extra time... It wasn’t... It wasn’t the first time they let her stay here longer than planned, but they didn’t even leave a note for us! But now they're... How could you..."

Blossom let tears fall down her face as she clutched me to her chest. I had finally figured out what she was trying to do, so I let myself go and began to bawl into her fur. It wasn't a complete lie on my part as I blubbered incoherently through her coat, but I was sure that I wasn't nearly as depressed as when I actually saw their deaths happen.

The investigator cleared his throat in what I could only guess was nervous habit. "I uhh... It wasn't our intention to... We didn't mean... Buck..."

I could hear Blossom's teeth grinding as her chest tightened and, even if I couldn't see her face, I knew she was glaring in semi-false anger. "You... You thought we might have done it..., didn't you? How... How could you even think that a pair of fillies, let alone their own daughter, would ever do something as... vile as that!?"

"Look, when a family member doesn't report the deaths of their own, we can only-."

"SHUT UP!! They were like family to me and are Dee Dee's parents!" I've never seen Blossom as truly upset as she is right now. She'd never gone past frustration during the entire time I've known her and, now, she was screaming at a pony. I knew that I never wanted to be the target of her fury. "Get out!!"

"Ma'am. We can be rational about this; I don't want any trouble."

"THEN WHY DID YOU COME TO ACCUSE US OF MURDERING THE DRIVES AND THOSE GUARDS!?" I flinched at her outburst and she rubbed behind my ears and softly apologized.

"I did not accuse you two of anything. I merely stated the facts and circumstance of the crime and evidence gathered. At no time did I-."

"You implied it with your last statement, officer. I may not be an adult in your eyes, but I am far more intelligent than you seem to believe. If you don't have anything else to say in an attempt to make Dazzle's life worse, then I want, no, demand that you leave us to mourn."

I watched through bleary eyes as the gray officer stood, his features blank, and walked to the door. He stopped there with his magical grasp on it holding it open. "I'm sorry for your loss. I won't be able to return their bodies, but I'll have their death certificates given to you as soon as they're made." Without another word, the officer left and shut the door behind him.

Blossom took a deep breath and wiped her face with a fore leg. "I'm sorry I lost my temper Dazzle. I didn't mean to scare you by screaming at him. He just... How could they ever think that we'd..."

"I dunno. When is Miss Red supposed to get here?" I leaned against her resting my head on her neck.

She looked towards the clock on the coffee table against the far wall, its face lit by the silvery midday moonlight, and sighed. "She still won't be here for another hour and twenty minutes or so. I wish she could have come sooner. It's getting harder and harder to stay here. It won't be long until they come back to ask more questions. I'm glad we're leaving today."

“Are you... Are you okay, Blossom? You’re talking really fast."

She took a deep breath, puffing out her chest, and loosed a long, shaking sigh. "I'm fine. Just a little nervous and, admittedly, scared. I haven't left Canterlot in years and I haven't been to Trottingham in longer. I'm worried that I won't be able to find a job or that we'll have trouble finding a new home. There's just so many things that can go wrong and I don't want you in any kind of situation like that."

I almost laughed. Here I was, scared out of my mind about leaving my only home and going to some scary new city. I had been leaning on Blossom this whole time as my only support to keep me from shaking in fear every second and, as it turned out, she was just as scared as I was. I leaned forward slightly and kissed her cheek like she would do for me whenever I was upset or shaken by something. “Don’t worry, Blossom. I don’t think it’ll be that bad at all. We’ll get there, find a place to live, and you’ll find a job without any problems!” I looked down at my hooves and wiggled anxiously. “I’m... actually kinda glad that you’re scared too. I know you want to be tough for me, but it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one.”

“Thanks, Dee Dee.” She ruffled my mane and squeezed me into a tight embrace. “What should we do for the next hour or so, Dazzle? We’re pretty much packed so is there anything you have in mind?”

“Could we finish that Daring Do story? I can’t wait to know what happens next!”

As I bounced excitedly on the couch cushion, Blossom stood and fluttered over to the bookcase and picked out the thick binding that was the second compilation volume of the Daring Do series. “I don’t see why not. We’re going to have to remember to pack this before we leave with Miss Red; we’re not even halfway through it yet!” She smiled brightly once more now that her fears were pushed away and lay down on the couch with the book in her forehooves. I eyed the position carefully, but couldn’t see where I was supposed to sit so I could read as well. As if sensing my worry, Blossom spread her wings and guided me onto her back so that I lay on top of her with my neck against hers. “There! Are you all situated? Good! Let’s get started then!

“Daring Do was trapped under the rubble that had fallen from the ancient building’s roof and was desperately struggling to get free...”

We were still reading when a light rapping came from the wooden door. I immediately hopped off of Blossom’s back and rushed over to it, pressing my ear against the frame. “Miss Red? Is that you?”

“It is. Could you be a dearie and open up for me? I’ll have my butler help you two pack your stuff up into the carriage while we talk to the realtor I brought with me.” I nodded rapidly, an act that was quite pointless since she couldn’t see me through the door, and carefully hoofed it open before gripping the mare in a tight hug. “I’m quite glad to see you too, Dazzle! It’s certainly going to be much less fun around here without the two of you to entertain me.”

“Thanks for agreeing to buy the house, Miss Red. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to find a buyer. I don’t know how we could afford to move without selling this first.” Blossom trotted up to Ruby and quickly hugged her.

“You know I would have given you the bits if you needed them, dearie. I’ve known you for a little over four years and you’re most definitely diligent in your work. We both know I won’t spend every bit I have on myself.”

“I couldn’t do that! You already helped me get the house in the first place! If it wasn’t for you giving me a job back then, I’d be living on the streets!"

Ruby chuckled and put a hoof to Blossom's muzzle to stop her from continuing. "You wouldn't have any say in the matter. All it'd take was a quick trip to the bank to make a transfer and you would be none the wiser until you went to withdraw." She stepped past the two of us and into the living room where she sat on a chair. An elderly stallion stepped into the house and bowed before looking to Ruby. “Ah, perfect! Bow Tie, could you tell mister House that we’re ready to discuss the terms of sale for the building?”

“Right away, madam.”

The butler pony left the room from where he came and returned with another stallion, this one much younger and was wearing a bright yellow suit coat. I watched him trot in, carrying his large, brown suitcase, and set it on the floor beside the coffee table. “Hello, Miss Orange, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Now, let's get this started since I'm sure you don't want to spend all day going over the tiresome fields of paperwork that we'd usually have to plow through to even get started on this.

"Okay, Miss Orange, let's start with your date of birth." He opened his suitcase by the metal clasps on the top and levitated a stack of papers onto the table next to it. After looking through them, House pulled out a single sheet and laid it out beside the original stack. "You were born on Auguary twenty-fifth of the nine-hundred and ninety-second Celestial year, is that right?"

Blossom nodded and leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Hey, Dee Dee. Why don't you go read a book while we finish this up? It's not a very entertaining process to have to sit through."

I hopped off the couch where we had been sitting and walked quickly over to the bookshelf to pick out something to read while I waited. I don’t usually like to read by myself because I love it when Blossom reads to me, but she was right: I don’t like boring meetings, and I always got distracted whenever my parents had customers meet with them while I was there. It took me quite a while to find something that I’d enjoy and, by the time I got back to sitting with them and started reading, they were talking about the price.

“You leased the house to own for fifty-thousand two-hundred bits, so I’d say that, with housing prices nowadays, selling it for-.”

“I’ll pay her one-hundred fifty-seven thousand bits for it.” Ruby smiled widely at Blossom while I giggled at both House’s and Blossom’s gaping mouths. “You’re going to need it, dearie. The cost of living in Canterlot is pretty high, but with the high population in Trottingham it’ll be even harder to find inexpensive housing and still be able to eat until you can find some form of employment..”

“But, Miss Red! That’s just-.”

“No, no, dearie, please call me Ruby. It’s not easy living in large cities like Trottingham and jobs are very difficult to find. I don’t want you having to worry about money.” She looked to House and motioned for him to write it down. I watched as he furiously scrawled the amount of bits to be transferred.

My book was completely forgotten when I heard soft sobbing from right beside me. I turned to see Blossom struggling to hold back tears, her white fur darkening to a light gray as the liquid dampened it. “Blossom? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

She shook her head and smiled. “I’m fine, Dee Dee. I’m just glad to have such an amazing friend.”

Ruby nodded and stood to head to her carriage. “Mister House, thank you for coming and assisting us with this and for making such an expedited process. I’ll come to sign the deed for the building in the morning, but until then, farewell.” Her gaze turned to us and her grin warmed. “Blossom, Dazzle, have you packed everything that you’re going to take with you?”

“Yes! We were done waaaaaay before you got here!” I beamed excitedly and jumped from where I was sitting to nuzzle up against Ruby. “Thank you, Miss Ruby! I’ll miss you when we leave. You’ll send me candy, right?”

She laughed and patted my head with a hoof. “Sure, Dazzle. You’re going to behave for Blossom, right?” I shook my head ‘yes’ as quickly as I could and rushed back over to Blossom to get her to stand up as well. “You ready to go, dearie?”

“Mhmm. I’m kind of sad that I’m going to be leaving after having lived here for so long, but I’ll do whatever I need to in order to help Dazzle now that her parents are gone.”

“As I’d expect you to, dearie. You two are perfect for each other and are most certainly the best of friends. Now, let’s go and get you two on your train and on your way. It should be arriving in a little over an hour.”

The three of us walked out to the carriage that Ruby had arrived in and were helped inside by Bow Tie who had already packed our small bag into the overcarriage. As soon as we were settled, the stallions that were hitched to the carriage set off, making it lurch slightly. I sat closest to one of the windows in the plush carriage and watched the street, ponies, and houses pass by.

Blossom looked to me and grinned, “The trip to the station should take about forty minutes. How about we play a game of ‘I Spy’?” She knew exactly how much I loved ‘I Spy’.

Author’s Notes: Whew. Sorry this one took so long guys. Seriously. That took way too long and I am sorry. First off, I apologize for the inconsistency of the narrative. I was debating on whether or not I’d use the childlike mentality of the present/past Dazzle or the more intelligent words of the future Dazzle that you heard from at the start of chapter one and decided to use curtain number two about 3/4s of the way through. Second, I and my editors are going to go through this and the last chapter and fix the inconsistencies of wording and such really soon (especially since it’s still considerably shorter than ATFN). And, finally, we’re also going to pause everything as we go back and edit AFTN to be more consistent as far as the detail/various stuff goes (and almost completely redo chapter four. Celetia’s raging hornboner that chapter was a bad idea). With that done, everypony welcome Prince of Hyrule, a.k.a. Squidbilly, as my third editor! *round of applause and much whooping* yay. For now, peace out and Peppy out!

P.S. Awwww yeah! This chapter is about 20% longer than any previous chapters! Woot!

Editor’s Notes #3: Hello, Prince of Hyrule speaking. I am what most call a “Grammar Nazi”, and I hope to make sure that no further mistakes are made and that one particular person *cough*iloverportalz0r*cough* stops making corrections for me. That aside, I do ask that you all bring to light any mistakes that are made so that I can correct them later on.

Not much else to say other than to give thanks to Peppy, Jekyll, and Kasa for allowing me to join Peppy’s team of editors. Really, thank you.

P.S. Oh, right. You should all read Rebelfire’s new story, Broken, which I edited. Really, you should. Come on, do it. Really, why aren’t you reading right now, you really should.

Editor’s Note #1: Welcome to the team Prince (I calls ‘im Squill). Lotsa d’aww and heart attacks to be had in this one. Extra long to make up for the wait. As Peppy said, the team and I are gonna go back through the older chapters of ATFN and fix the narrative of the first chapter of ND along with the better part of this one. Also, for those of you who know of my fixin’ up of the comment side stories posted in ATFN’s comments will be happy to know that Squill is helpin’ out. Woooo. Hope all of you enjoyed it. Now... back to Skyrim for me.

Editor’s Note #2: To be added when revisions are finished.